Terry Wit is a partner in the San Francisco office. Focusing on business disputes involving large liability exposures, including multidistrict and complex litigation, Mr. Wit serves as both plaintiff and defense counsel, representing corporations, creditors, banks, litigation trustees and individuals in matters concerning a wide range of business torts, audit negligence and malpractice, fiduciary duty, advertising, tortious interference, fraud, contract, patent and other claims. He has been named to the nationwide Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers list numerous times, most recently in 2024, as well as to the 2025 list of The Best Lawyers in America for Banking and Finance Litigation. In addition, Super Lawyers magazine in Northern California has repeatedly named him as a “Super Lawyer” in business litigation, and previously as a “Rising Star.”
In addition, Mr. Wit served for six years on the board, and four years as the president and chairman, of 826 National, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students ages 6 to 18 in the development of their creative and expository writing skills. 826 has a network of writing and tutoring centers in cities across the United States, and serves nearly 80,000 students each year.
- Ashmore Group
- BlueFire Ethanol Fuels
- Corcept Therapeutics
- Dollar Shave Club
- Dr. Enrico Bondi, Extraordinary Commissioner of Parmalat Finanziaria, S.p.A
- Dorco Company
- EIG
- hiQ Labs
- IBM
- Ice Canyon
- LifeScan
- Moneda Asset Management
- Nordic Trustee
- Otto Candies LLC
- Pace Shave
- Physiotherapy Litigation Trust
- Rabobank
- Santos Laguna
- SemGroup Litigation Trust
- Vistra International Expansion
- Waypoint Asset Management
- Representing Vistra International Expansion (USA), a professional services firm, in defending numerous actions for over $2 billion in damages brought by former investors in DC Solar Solutions entities and related investment funds, alleging Vistra should have uncovered a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by the owners of DC Solar, a renewable energy business.
- Representing Santos Laguna, the Mexican premier league football club, asserting numerous claims against The Walt Disney Company and Fox Sports Latin America in connection with Disney’s acquisition of Fox Sports, related tortious conduct, and breaches of Fox Sports’ broadcast license agreements with Santos.
- Representing dozens of creditors of Oceanografia S.A. de C.V., Mexico’s largest oil services company, asserting claims against Citigroup and KPMG for over $1.1 billion in damages in connection with their culpable conduct in aiding and/or allowing the collapse and bankruptcy of their client Oceanografia in a massive fraud.
- Represented the PAH Litigation Trust in litigation asserting fraudulent transfer claims against the former owners of Physiotherapy Associates, one of the largest physical therapy providers in the U.S., for their role in structuring the leveraged buyout of the insolvent company based on false financial statements, culminating in its bankruptcy.
- Represented Dollar Shave Club, Dorco Company, and Pace Shave in patent litigation brought by The Gillette Company in Delaware federal court relating to thin film coatings on razor blades.
- Represented the SemGroup Litigation Trust in litigation against PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP related to PwC’s audit failures and breaches of fiduciary duty resulting in the multi-billion dollar collapse of SemGroup, a midstream oil company in Oklahoma that was one of the ten largest privately held companies in the U.S. Defeated several summary judgment motions by PwC and the case settled on confidential terms shortly before trial.
- Represented Dr. Enrico Bondi, Extraordinary Commissioner of Parmalat S.p.A. in three separate $10 billion lawsuits arising out of the largest bankruptcy in European history against various financial institutions and accounting firms, for aiding and abetting Parmalat’s insiders in the commission of massive fraud and for auditor malfeasance. Obtained a $150 million settlement against Deloitte & Touche, a $100 million settlement against Bank of America, and a confidential settlement against Grant Thornton.
- Represented Pace Shave and various Dorco Company entities as defendants in Massachusetts federal litigation brought by The Gillette Company and The Procter & Gamble Company, involving eleven patents spanning over 250 claims, as well as numerous assertions of trademark and trade dress claims. Despite plaintiffs’ assertions of intellectual property infringement covering hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of Gillette shavers, we quickly narrowed the issues and obtained a cost-effective global settlement on an expedited basis for our U.S.- and Korean-based clients.
- Represented an established medical device manufacturer in a dispute with the potential acquirer of a patented product line following failure of the transaction. Conducted the investigation of the allegations, developed the client’s own counterclaims, and formulated a pre-complaint strategy designed to avoid public litigation. A confidential mediation was proposed and a settlement was achieved at a steep discount, avoiding significant litigation costs in the process.
- Represented IBM in a former employee’s appeal of summary judgment dismissing multi-million dollar employment discrimination claims for lost wages and benefits as well as emotional distress. Obtained an opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the dismissal in its entirety – without oral argument.
- Represented a major foreign bank against nine-figure class action claims arising from the insolvency of a prior commercial client of a trust company acquired by the bank. Achieved a global settlement of claims following years of litigation despite complex and often competing interests both within the defense group and on the plaintiffs’ side (represented by four major plaintiffs’ class action firms).
- Represented one of the world’s largest automotive industry manufacturers against a foreign plaintiff’s multi-billion dollar tort and civil RICO claims stemming from alleged interference with a joint venture with the Chinese government to build a factory in China. Obtained dismissal of the complaint in its entirety on remand following plaintiff’s successful appeal of summary judgment previously granted by the district court.
- Accounting & Financial Reporting Litigation
- Investment Fund Litigation
- Bankruptcy & Restructuring
- Litigation Representing Plaintiffs
- Transnational Litigation
- Structured Finance & Derivatives Litigation
- Lender Liability & Other Banking Financial Institution Litigation
- Private Equity Fund Litigation
- Representing Pension Funds, Other Managed Funds, and Government Agencies as Plaintiffs
- New York University School of Law
(J.D., cum laude, 2001)- Review of Law and Social Change:
- Board Member, 2000-2001
- Book Review & Annotations Editor, 2000-2001
- Staff Editor, 1999-2000
- Review of Law and Social Change:
- University of Nebraska
(B.A., Superior Scholar, 1997)
- The State Bar of New York
- The State Bar of California
- United States Court of Appeals:
- Second Circuit
- Third Circuit
- Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court:
- Southern District of New York
- Eastern District of New York
- Northern District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Southern District of California
- Central District of California
- French
- Member, New York State Bar Association:
- Commercial and Federal Litigation Section